American Apparel was founded in 1989 by the ‘weird beard’ Canadian Dov Charney, who had a long history with T-shirts and a fascination with American culture. American Apparel is known worldwide and is a leader in the fashion industry, known for their simplicity and style with over 250 stores and growing you could say that the clothing brand is definitely a Success.

Dov Charney is also known for his quirky acts in public and media and has been labeled many a things in the clothing industry, good & bad by his peers. Is there a method behind his madness? Maybe so. Have you ever wondered how American Apparel came to be? I know I have, so here it is!

Dov Charney – American Apparel’s Success

Dov Charney’s Story:

Dov’s first venture was at age 10, selling rainwater he had collected in mayonnaise jars to his neighbors and moved on to editing his own newspaper at age 11 that he would sell for 20 cents a copy near his school. He was featured in a documentary as a child named 20th Century Chocolate Cake where he discussed the economics of a summer camp he had attended. Dov Charney showed entrepreneurial signs from a very young age with a huge passion for success coupled with motivation and determination to do whatever he could do to make it big in this world!

When Dov hit high school, he started importing Hanes and Fruit of the Loom T-Shirts across the border to Canadian friends and claims to have shipped a total of 10,000 at a time and used a rented U-Haul truck as transportation. Dov enrolled into University and dropped out a few years later to move to South Carolina to pursue his business venture and grow it into something bigger. This is when he decided to transition from importing T-Shirts to manufacturing them himself. Having some financial difficulties here and there, he got through and moved to Los Angeles where he employed 1,300 people and opened his first retail store “American Apparel” in 2003. In 2004 he was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year and Apparel Magazine’s Man of the Year.

The company was ranked 308th in Inc.’s 2005 list of the 500 fastest growing companies in the United States, with a 440% three-year growth and revenues in 2005 of over US$211 million! Today, American Apparel stores are located in 20 countries and the number of stores continues to grow every year!

Dov Charney is worth US$20 million dollars, being the founder and CEO of “American Apparel”, he is recognized for his progressive company policies, including low-cost healthcare and no outsourcing, his fashion sense, which has received multiple awards, and for the multiple lawsuits for sexual harassment he has received from various employees; none of which have been found to be true.

This story goes to show that having a dream from a young age or any age, coupled with perseverance and a can-do attitude will definitely pay off in the long run!

Article By Charlene Barry | Addicted2Success.com